In the past many hat or caps had been developed to either include a container or bag for a coolant to be placed within in the hat or cap. For example, in U.S. Pat. No. 2,335,630 to Bachard, a double wall vacuum like container was filled with dry ice and arranged in a conducting structure to terminate behind the sweat band of the hat to keep the user's brow cool. This device differs from the present invention which allows readily available wet ice to melt onto the wearer's head instead of a complicated device relying on the evaporation of a specialized coolant that decomposes into a gas and then escapes.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,029,438 to Henscheo discloses a sponge strip which extends around the hat and is attached to a aluminum strip that is in contact with the head. It appears in theory that when the sponge strip is watersaturated, the water will begin to evaporate and causing a cooling effect as the heat is drawn away from the aluminum strip. The disadvantage with this system is that it requires a substantial amount of cooling from evaporating water and not the actual melting ice cubes placed upon the wearer's head as in the present invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,070,803 to Slepicka discloses a water reservoir bag which is improvious. In one form of the invention the top of the bag may have a filler plug made of sponge material in order for evaporation and thereby creating a cooling effect. The present invention is much more effective in the sense that it does not require an evaporative, but primarily allows melting ice water to seep directly on to the wearer's head, therefore providing superior cooling effect.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,172,495 to Zebuhr et al. is an elaborate arrangement with inlet and outlet manifolds formed into a shell-like hat or helmet surrounding the wearer's skull. On the melting of a frozen slurry, a hose connected to a slurry generator may be used to recharge the tube-like arrangement. Once recharged, the hoses are disconnected and the wearer can return to active endeavor. This device is vastly different from the present invention which is quite simple and economical and does not require use of a specialized fluid such as slurry and pumps and generators to perform an effective cooling of the wearer's head.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,356,709 to Alexander involves a doubled wall ice ca in which a cavity is provided for a sealed bag and placed on the head for cooling. The device provides a local application of ice as a source of cooling for the specific use for patients undergoing chemotherapy treatment. This device differs from the present invention in that no melted ice water travels to the user's scalp readily providing a effective cooling.
No known device allows for a simple positioning and use of readily available wet ice cubes to be placed within headgear apparel to provide superior and yet effective cooling of the wearer's head through the actual melting of the ice directly onto the wearer's scalp during athletic endeavors or other activities needing head cooling.